


Jon Sings, Martin Listens

by ADreamIsASoftPlaceToLand



Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Jon Archivist is Jonny D'Ville change my mind, M/M, The Mechanisms - Freeform, au where The Mechanisms is Jon Archivist's college band, shameless fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-13
Updated: 2019-06-13
Packaged: 2020-05-02 09:17:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 971
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19195999
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ADreamIsASoftPlaceToLand/pseuds/ADreamIsASoftPlaceToLand
Summary: The first time Martin hears Jon sing, he thinks he’s going to faint.





	Jon Sings, Martin Listens

**Author's Note:**

> So I decided to combine my three favorite things, au where Jon was in The Mechanisms in college, jonmartin fluff, and fics where Martin catches Jon singing. This is my first time writing in this fandom, so sorry if they're a little ooc.

The first time Martin hears Jon sing, he thinks he’s going to faint. He’s quite proud of himself for not collapsing on the spot, really. It’s in the first weeks when he’s staying in the archives, and Jon must’ve forgotten that he’s staying there. Martin is making tea in the archive kitchen when he hears it, and he follows his ears down the halls of the archives to where he finds Jon, returning files to their appropriate cabinets. And singing. 

It’s shocking enough to realize that Jon - stuffy, nerdy, prim and proper Jon - is SINGING, but of course he also has to have a gorgeous voice. It’s low and breathy, some moments it edges on a rasp, others it rings clear and strong, in a way that reminds Martin of the voice he hears Jon use when reading statements. 

He wants to ask Jon what the song is, but he knows that if Jon sees him standing here, if Jon knew he was listening, he would never sing in the archives again. So instead Martin just… listens. Listens as Jon continues to put away the files, and then retreats back into his office at the other end of the corridor. 

 

Later, the first time Jon invites him over for dinner at his flat, something Martin never dreamed could ever be possible, it happens again. Martin is wandering around Jon’s living room, surveying Jon’s collection of books that are scattered around the room on shelves, and in stacks littering the coffee table and floor. Jon is cooking pasta in the kitchen, and he starts to sing. Martin can’t help the smile that creeps onto his face the moment he hears it, and then he sneaks into the kitchen doorway to be closer to Jon. 

Unfortunately, the carpeted floor creaks under his weight, and Jon freezes, the wooden spoon he was using to stir the pasta stilling in the pot of boiling water. Martin can’t help but giggle at Jon looking so comically shocked, frozen like a cat caught stealing treats, his cheeks coloring in embarrassment. 

“You were singing,” Martin says, grinning from ear to ear. 

“An… unfortunate habit I picked up in college. Back when Georgie and I were…” Jon doesn’t finish the sentence, but Martin knows. Back when they were dating, of course. Back before, all of this, really. 

“Well, I think your voice is lovely!” Martin thinks Jon turns redder than the marinara sauce, which only makes him grin harder. “What were you singing?”

“Erm, nothing you would know,” Jon deflects, turning back to the stove. 

“So? What if I want to look it up and listen to more of it?” Martin asks, partly because it’s true, but also because Jon deflecting is piquing his interest.  
The horror on Jon’s face at this prospect is possibly more comical than him being caught, but Martin doesn’t have time for amusement. He’s found himself a mission. Jon hesitates far too long before deciding to say, “I don’t remember what the song is called… Just the words.” 

Jon really is a TERRIBLE liar. “Jon, you realize you being so cagey about this is only making me want to know more, right? You’re just making me more curious?” He stares at Jon with his chin raised defiantly, in an effort to seem imposing and determined. 

Jon returns his determined stare for a moment before it transforms into a withering glare, and his shoulders slump in defeat. “You’re not going to stop until you get an answer, are you?”

Martin gives Jon his most cheerful smile and replies, “Nope!” 

With a heavy sigh, Jon leaves the kitchen and returns moments later with his laptop and a video queued up. It’s a video recording of a live band performance. Three people in the front are singing the song Jon had been singing earlier, but that isn’t what catches Martin’s eye. What he notices is the man sitting at the drum kit behind them. He’s wearing thick black eye makeup, with veiny lines spreading out across his forehead, and his hair is less gray, but… “Oh… my God, Jon! Is that YOU?” 

He looks up from the laptop to look at Jon, who has crossed his arms over his chest and put a hand over his eyes. He turns back to the screen and watches the song play through, and when it ends the younger Jon swaggers to the front of the band and begins to tell a story with a kind of bravado and sarcasm that is so out of character from the Jon he knows. Jon, tell a JOKE? Perform as an… immortal space pirate??? He pauses the video and sits there for a moment, too stunned to move or speak. 

“I was in a band… In college. It was Georgie’s idea. We used to sing together, just for fun. But she said my voice was good enough that I should… do something with it? I don’t know.” Jon has looked up from his hand and is sort of, staring into the middle distance. “I had… really hoped no one would ever see this.” 

Martin snaps out of his daze enough to quip, “Well, I mean you did put it on YouTube, Jon.” 

Jon huffs, and Martin stands up, taking Jon’s hands in his own. “You know, I think it’s amazing you did that. You look like you were having a lot of fun. You shouldn’t ashamed of something that made you happy.”

Jon looks at the paused video and smiles a little wistfully. “Yes… Yes, I suppose it was rather enjoyable.”

His look turns stern as he looks back to Martin, “But if you EVER tell anyone else at the archives about this…”  
Martin smiles reassuringly, perfectly willing to have this little tidbit about Jon’s life just for himself. “Your secret’s safe with me.”

**Author's Note:**

> For anyone curious - Jon is singing the Sirens song from Ulysses Dies at Dawn, because I think that song is gorgeous and wouldn't give away that it's a steampunk space band like songs that Jonny sings probably would (like Our Boy Jack which was my second choice). 
> 
> I also used this video as a reference for what Jon shows Martin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HO5PKnxXYvE


End file.
